Author Description

Crossroads of American Sculpture examines the works of six artists whose lives are linked by their place in the history of 20th-century sculpture. Painters and sculptors began to explore nontraditional subjects and to search for abstract ways of representing their ideas early in the 20th century, but it was during the period from 1945 to 2000 that sculpture radically expanded its forms, materials and subjects. Crossroads of American Sculpture looks at this remarkable period in which artists expressed new ideas and employed new mediums, including industrial materials, words, found objects, photography, neon, video and live performances. The resulting works include Smith’s "drawings in air" and his Forging and Cubi series; Rickey’s mesmerizing kinetic sculptures; Chamberlain’s colorful crushed auto bodies; Indiana’s wooden herms and LOVE sculptures; Wiley’s punning assemblages, like Nomad Is an Island, and the wide range of Nauman’s work, including his neon, fiber-glass, bronze and video pieces. More than 150 works by the artists, including 60 drawings, are reproduced in color.